Sunil Joshi, management student from Mumbai, loves the Internet just as much as anyone else. His reason, however, is a little different. It's not email, and neither is it chatting. "Information," he says, grinning. Studious kid, you think, before he chooses to elaborate. "Without the reference material I find online, I'd never make the best presentations."
The result is commendable, though the means are anything but fair to the rest of his classmates. That little detail, however, doesn't seem to bother him in the least. After all, he's the one with the highest marks too.
One has to come to terms with the simple fact that the Internet works best when used as what it's supposed to be -an 'information superhighway.' And for those who hate dusty shelves in ancient libraries, the LearningNetwork's Reference section makes one agree with Sunil.
It's an encyclopaedia of sorts, covering just about anything under the sun, and beyond it. There's InfoPlease section, for one, with tonnes of photographs, articles, definitions, maps, and more. Then, Fact Monster combines reference material with facts and features, all specially created for kids. Finally, the Rough Guide to Travel, for minute details on thousands of destinations across the planet.
An interesting thing you realise after checking out travel sites, is that, apart from our planet's diversity, there's hell of a lot of stupidity that comes with the package. Proof? Dumb Lawsfrom here, there, and everywhere.
For a dumb law, try Canada, where, if you are released from prison, it is required that you are given a handgun with bullets and a horse, so you can ride out of town. Looking for dumber? It's illegal to pick your nose on Saturday, in Israel. Dumbest? While prostitution is legal in South Korea, it is illegal for anyone to use the services of a prostitute.
One country actually prohibits the starting of a car while someone is underneath the vehicle. And I thought our ministers were stupid.
Someone at the site apparently agrees too, because one of the messages posted was: 'How come you guys don't have India listed here, when they have the dumbest laws?'
Speaking of dumb, there are loads of sites that love to hate the language we know best: Angrezi. 'Beware of heard, a dreadful word, That looks like beard but sounds like bird. And dead: it's said like bed, not bead, For goodness sake don't call it deed!' More gems like this one from English Pronunciation and Other Tortures.
A Beastly Garden Of Wordy Delights gives you words that delight, surprise, and confound. Do you know, for example, that ravens croak, grouse drum, and dolphins click? Last stop, familiar territory: the Cliche . It's got clichés 'as long as your arm,' while finding stuff is 'as easy as pie.'
On the funnier side of things, the International Collection of Tongue Twisters boasts 1846 entries in 77 languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Punjabi. Try one in Hindi: 'madan, mohan, malveya madras mein machhli maarte maarte mare'; or Punjabi: 'Davinder di dadi de do dand dukhde, dilli de dukandar davinder di dadi de dandan di davai de dinde.'
Back to more information or, rather, Disinformation. It's something for the rebel in all of us, as it thrives on 'hidden information' that rarely slips through the cracks of media conglomerates. Activism to aliens, conspiracies to technology, politics to people - loads of articles, documents, images, RealVideo clips and more, all neatly designed for easy navigation.
Let's say you've found something really hot at Disinformation, and need to tell a friend in Bucharest about it. There's email, of course, but what if you could have someone read it out to your friend, and wink at him or her at the end of the message? That's what LifeFX-The Face of the Internet does for you, using its innovative FaceMail.
The program lets you create emails with LifeFX Stand-In Virtual People that actually speak messages you send and receive with life-like, photo-realistic facial expressions! Choose the face you want, and, if you choose to put in a smiley, the virtual guy or lady actually smiles for you too.
Now that this has got you all interested, time for the disadvantages. LifeFX mail can only be accessed by someone who also has the LifeFX software. And before you rush to ask your friends to download it, two words: huge file. Thanks to its multimedia intensive nature.
At times like these, maybe it's simpler to just stick to email and chatting, isn't it?
Links
LearningNetwork Reference
Photographs, articles, definitions, maps, and anything else to help you with research and reference of any kind, and any subject.
Dumb Laws
From the United States and around the world, a collection of laws that make our own laws seem sane.
English Pronunciation and Other Tortures
How to pronounce something, and why the logic behind it is completely ridiculous.
A Beastly Garden Of Wordy Delights
Which snakes have the softest insides of the mouth? Cottonmouths, of course. More like this, here.
Cliche Site
Lie like a rug, get hitched, and more, along with their definitions. All categorised to make surfing the site as easy as pie.
International Collection of Tongue Twisters
1846 entries in 77 languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Punjabi. Practice hard, then impress your friends.
Disinformation
Your ticket to news, views images and more, that was squashed or hidden by the big media conglomerates. Well designed and easy to navigate.
LifeFX-The Face of the Internet
Home of FaceMail, a program that lets you create emails with Virtual People that actually speak your messages and smile if you want them to.
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